Experimental biophysics
Experimentell biofysik

FFFN20F, 15 credits

Valid from: Spring 2020
Decided by: Anders Gustafsson / FUN (2)
Date of establishment: 2019-11-14

General Information

Division: Solid State Physics
Course type: Course given jointly for second and third cycle
The course is also given at second-cycle level with course codes: FFFN20, FYST23
Teaching language: English

Aim

The course provides a deeper study of interdisciplinary work focused on experimental methods in biophysics. The course is intended specifically to provide an introduction to the intersection of modern physics, nanotechnology, biomolecular chemistry and biology.

Goals

Knowledge and Understanding

For a passing grade the doctoral student must

• be able to discuss the connection between orders of magnitude in biology and microelectronic components and how this can be used to an advantage to develop new tools for biomedical analysis.
• be able to explain fundamental issues and problems in micro- and nanofluidics.
• be able to describe advanced imaging methods.
• be able to explain fundamental techniques of studies of single molecules.
• be able to explain fundamental mechanisms within the field of molecular motors.
• be able to describe the interaction of cells with nanostructured particles including nanotoxicity.
• be able to describe systems such as lab on a chip, integration.

Competences and Skills

For a passing grade the doctoral student must

• be able to seek information outside the course literature.
• be able to understand and summarize scientific articles.
• be able to develop simple experiments, i.e. assess and choose appropriate experimental techniques for a specific scientific question.
• be able to plan a scientific project.
• be able to write well-structured project reports that summarize, explains and analyzes experimental and/or theoretical work.
• be able to present results of independent work in an oral presentation and actively take part in scientific discussions.

Judgement and Approach

For a passing grade the doctoral student must understand limitations and possibilities of miniaturization of bioanalytical tools.

Course Contents

The course contains three main parts. The first part of the course consists of lectures and seminars. During this time fundamental issues within the relevant subjects are presented and discussed. It is important that the students take active part in the discussion, especially during the seminars. An important goal is to learn how to extract information efficiently from scientific articles. A common theme throughout the course is micro and nanostructures within biology and technology and how they connect to each other. Orders of magnitude in biology and physics. Imaging of biological structures: optical microscopy including super resolution microscopy (STE, SORM mfl). Micro and nanofluidics: separation and analysis of molecules and cells, soft lithography. Interaction of proteins and cells with nanostructured surfaces: control of motor proteins, growth of axons, antibody-antigen reactions for protein-chip applications. Interaction of low-dimensional materials with individual cells. Systems issues: Lab on a chip applications, single-cell studies. The second part of the course consists of laborative exercises, primarily in our research laboratories. The students are given an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the equipment that is used at the department for biophysics. Fundamental fluorescence microscopy Soft lithography and microfluidics Applications of microfluidics Flow simulation Optical tweezers The last part of the course is a project where the students work individually or in small groups on primarily innovative, yet simple, experiments in a research environment at a location of their choice at the university or outside the university. The projects are defined together with the course coordinator, the project advisors and the students.

Course Literature

The course does not rely on any course text book. Instead it uses recent and relevant scientific papers from the literature, some of which are review papers. Laboratory guides and question sets are available online. In addition many project reports are available as pdf files on the course website.

Instruction Details

Types of instruction: Lectures, seminars, laboratory exercises, project

Examination Details

Examination formats: Written exam, oral exam, written report
Grading scale: Failed, pass
Examiner:

Admission Details

Assumed prior knowledge: Compulsory courses of the first three years of the Engineering Nanoscience programme or equivalent.

Course Occasion Information

Contact and Other Information

Course coordinators:
Web page: https://biokurs.ftf.lth.se/